Residents concerned over proposed DePaul street closure

At a meeting of the Sheffield Neighborhood Assocation, many residents said Kenmore is an important through street in the neighborhood, especially because of the high volume of traffic on Sheffield.

Others said DePaul's plan to turn the street into a pedestrian way makes sense.

“Being in an urban environment we do have to cross over a lot of streets and we have very little space where we don’t have to deal with traffic,” said DePaul student Ryan McGuire.

The university recently unveiled a 10-year master plan that includes adding a 140-room hotel, dorms and 44,000 square feet of retail space to its Lincoln Park campus, on the corner of Fullerton and Sheffield.

The plan also calls for expanding the facilities for the Theater School and School of Music.

Joe Antunovich, the project's architect, said he's hopeful the two sides can reach an agreement.

He added that DePaul hopes to submit plans to the city for approval in July.